Losing A Yacht Club Bid

[Fla Mike]

I'm still debating pulling the trigger on a YC bid for our cruise coming this Sunday.

I know, wait till the last minute.

I'll get shot for doing it, but Lovely will change her tune after she settles in.

 

Anyway, I'm afraid if my YC bid gets declined...Ill loose my original cabin location to something less.

I'm currently on deck 12 Fantastica, (all in) mid shipish.

Minimum YC balcony bid $520 pp

 

What would YOU do.

[Fogfog]

I’m not sure that bidding means you give up your room, 

Thats a great price for YC for 4 days

We would bid

[Morgsmom]

Assuming you already have the Easy Plus package I'd keep that mid ship balcony cabin.  for the $1040 you can book a whole other cruise.  My opinion only.

[no1talks]

We were informed, more than two weeks before departure, our upgrade bid from YC inside to YC balcony would be acceptable. We did not bid the absolute minimum, but we still saved a few hundred on what it would have cost to book it in the first place.

 

We were surprised to find out with that much advance notice.

 

We're on Mera for seven days, starting the 20th. (Barring unforseen debacle, of course.)

[morpheusofthesea]

"I've lived a life that's full I traveled each and every highway And more, much more than this, I did it my way Regrets, I've had a few But then again, too few to mention I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption I planned each charted course Each careful step along the byway And more, much more than this, I did it my way....." Paul Anka

[no1talks]

21 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"I've lived a life that's full I traveled each and every highway And more, much more than this, I did it my way Regrets, I've had a few But then again, too few to mention I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption I planned each charted course Each careful step along the byway And more, much more than this, I did it my way....." Paul Anka

Always better with a gif...

 

[ddlb]

Very interesting.  I have a cruise on Mera on April  3rd. I’m anxiously awaiting for the invitation to bid for a yacht club balcony.   Last time the opening bid was $535. And I bid  $540 each. So thanks for your info. Was rather stunned when we won because I really didn’t expect it  and was wondering what have I done!  Well  my friend  and I were thrilled. I can’t imagine you losing your cabin if you don’t win your bid.
 

By the way I found out way before the Mera sailed that we had won. But what is interesting to me now is I could actually upgrade to two yacht club insides for less than bidding on an upgrade to the yacht club deluxe balcony. At least I assume I can upgrade my current balcony with the 5-15, drink package, obc  to two individual YC cabins. I have not called to confirm this yet.

 

I do think the yacht club is absolutely worth it though with the spa and all the other perks. But we are still wondering what would be better the yacht club balcony if we win or just booking 2 YC insides. 
 

But on the other hand like Morgsmom said you  could do a whole new other cruise too!  And we are even thinking we might just be happy with what we got and it only cost us $448 each. 

[JAGR]

1 hour ago, ddlb said:

Very interesting.  I have a cruise on Mera on April  3rd. I’m anxiously awaiting for the invitation to bid for a yacht club balcony.   Last time the opening bid was $535. And I bid  $540 each. So thanks for your info. Was rather stunned when we won because I really didn’t expect it  and was wondering what have I done!  Well  my friend  and I were thrilled. I can’t imagine you losing your cabin if you don’t win your bid.
 

By the way I found out way before the Mera sailed that we had won. But what is interesting to me now is I could actually upgrade to two yacht club insides for less than bidding on an upgrade to the yacht club deluxe balcony. At least I assume I can upgrade my current balcony with the 5-15, drink package, obc  to two individual YC cabins. I have not called to confirm this yet.

 

I do think the yacht club is absolutely worth it though with the spa and all the other perks. But we are still wondering what would be better the yacht club balcony if we win or just booking 2 YC insides. 
 

But on the other hand like Morgsmom said you  could do a whole new other cruise too!  And we are even thinking we might just be happy with what we got and it only cost us $448 each. 

With a balcony cabin, you'll probably be able to get in and our of the shower easier than the inside cabin "Iron Maiden" shower.  Maybe your friend can get a disability cabin, though, which would have a larger open shower area for access.

Edited February 9, 2022 by JAGR

[dexddd]

17 hours ago, JAGR said:

With a balcony cabin, you'll probably be able to get in and our of the shower easier than the inside cabin "Iron Maiden" shower.  Maybe your friend can get a disability cabin, though, which would have a larger open shower area for access.

Funny name for the YIN shower.  I've always referred to it as coffin sized.

[JAGR]

3 hours ago, dexddd said:

Funny name for the YIN shower.  I've always referred to it as coffin sized.

Appropriate descriptor as well! I use Iron Maiden to explain bruises from the plumbing hardware.  No photographs, I promise!🤐

[miataman19]

Just throwing this out there. On our last Meraviglia sailing, January 8th 7 day, My traveling companion had a YIN, I had a YC1. When we got to the port she had been upgraded to a YC1, no cost. It might have something to do with the ship only having 427 total and 47 in YC. Roll of the dice 🙂

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, miataman19 said:

Just throwing this out there. On our last Meraviglia sailing, January 8th 7 day, My traveling companion had a YIN, I had a YC1. When we got to the port she had been upgraded to a YC1, no cost. It might have something to do with the ship only having 427 total and 47 in YC. Roll of the dice 🙂

I think the 47 people was the factor. Yet they put you on our right side looking out and another couple on our left. I would figure they would have spaced is out.

Steve

[GA Dave]

This seems like the right thread to share this story on.  It's a bit long but very telling.

Prior to this past summer, my wife and I had never cruised with anyone but NCL.  She loved their free-style cruising concept and did not want to sail with anyone that told her when to eat, where to eat, etc.  Our last cruise together with them was on the Norwegian Getaway in a Haven Courtyard Penthouse Suite in Sept. 2018.  During that cruise, we used some of our OBC and some additional $$$ and bought $750 worth of CruiseNext certificates.  We had planned to use them when we took another Haven cruise in the Med in September 2020, but Covid hit.  Then my wife unexpectedly passed away that same month in 2020.

Fast forward to this past summer and my kids were bugging me to get out of the house more and do the things I loved.  While perusing all of the cruise line sites, I stumbled across a three-day cruise on Meraviglia for August.  For a solo in a Fantastica balcony, it was $309 all in.  I couldn't believe it, but figured "what the heck, how bad can it be."  I booked the cruise and then received an email to bid on the Yacht Club.  Remembering how much I loved the Haven on NCL, I figured I would give it a shot.  I looked at the price for both an interior and a Deluxe Suite by doing false bookings, multiplied the difference in those versus what I had already paid by 30% and bid that.  Low and behold, I won a Deluxe Suite, 15009 forward-facing balcony.  I absolutely loved it!  After that cruise, I booked a cruise on Independence of the Seas to try out Royal.  The balcony price was much higher than Mera, but I figured I would give it a shot.  They sent me a bid email, I did the same thing I had done for the Mera cruise, and got upgraded to an Owner's Suite!  It was quite a good experience, but I realized later that suites on the older Royal ships do not get any perks near as good as the YC.  So, my next cruise was with my son on Mera again last month.  With it being his first cruise ever, I bid quite a bit more than I had the first time to kind of guarantee us getting the YC.  And we did.

At this point I had already booked a balcony for the March 17 cruise on Mera.  I figured no more bidding and called and did a direct upgrade to YC.

This is where it gets interesting.  Yesterday, I received an email from NCL telling me they are extending the expiration of my CruiseNext certificates to 12/31/22.  With all of my enjoyment on my MSC cruises, I had completely forgotten about the NCL certs!  So last night I started looking at cruises for September.  First, I looked at the only NCL ship cruising the Caribbean for weekend cruises, the Sky.  This ship is old (1999 build), small (2000 - 2400 passengers), and it is going to Great Styrrup Cay, which does not have a dock and cannot stop much of the time due to weather.  For a regular balcony as a solo with their "free" drink and specialty dining package it came to $1,707.25 for a three-day cruise.  Minus my CN certificates, it would still cost me $957.25 out of pocket.  Next, I looked at Divina.  I could book a YC Deluxe Suite and get my favored forward-facing balcony straight up for $954.20.

I am sailing on the Divina in the YC.  I could not believe that NCL was charging that much for a balcony cabin on the second oldest ship in their fleet!  So, if anyone wants some NCL CN certificates, let me know, because I am 100% an MSC cruiser now!

[Fla Mike]

@GA Dave

My condolences on your loss.

Great story, thanks for sharing, if I you would have posted this a day earlier I might have pulled the trigger on the YC bid.

 

As I was getting ready to pull my card out of my wallet, that little angel popped up on my shoulder and echoed what others have mentioned...That $1040.00 is another cruise.

 

So, Lovey and I will remain in the Kayak Klub (steerage) and wallow away our sorrow with Brandy Alexanders and Jamesons instead of Hennessy and Glenlivet .

 

At least now I don't have to worry about her doing a "bobbit" on me, (look it up) when she saw I spent the extra grand. 😲

[psmarkle]

@GA Dave, I feel for your post. May peace find you. We, too, were former NCL loyalists, even earning Platinum status. We have let 3 CruiseNext credits expire rather than pay NCL's higher pricing.

 

However, like you, we found MSC YC to be a much better price point than the Haven experience by almost 1/2 the cost! Not knocking NCL as we love their product, and good on them if they can sell out the Haven at the prices they're asking. But, we are now MSC converts for the YC! In addition, I have found the MSC Casino Dept to be more generous in awarding at least 30% discounts on another cruise...my goal for our upcoming April cruise on the Seashore is to earn the coveted "Free Cruise" from them! I say "free" because there's always the good chance you can lose $$ on the way to that "free" cruise LOL!

[mscdivina2016]

3 hours ago, psmarkle said:

@GA Dave, I feel for your post. May peace find you. We, too, were former NCL loyalists, even earning Platinum status. We have let 3 CruiseNext credits expire rather than pay NCL's higher pricing.

 

However, like you, we found MSC YC to be a much better price point than the Haven experience by almost 1/2 the cost! Not knocking NCL as we love their product, and good on them if they can sell out the Haven at the prices they're asking. But, we are now MSC converts for the YC! In addition, I have found the MSC Casino Dept to be more generous in awarding at least 30% discounts on another cruise...my goal for our upcoming April cruise on the Seashore is to earn the coveted "Free Cruise" from them! I say "free" because there's always the good chance you can lose $$ on the way to that "free" cruise LOL!

You know that free cruise is 9999 points which is $30,000 play.

30% off is 1200 points for a one week sailing.

 

[pr8hd]

 

@GA Dave

 

Condolences to you and your family.  Sorry for the loss of your wife and children's mother.  

 

We have our fist cruise with MSC in two weeks (Meraviglia) and very much looking forward to it.  We are cruising rookies with five sailings   Cruised with Carnival and RCCL and the US Navy (Lots of Sea days there.  😃)  Haven't sailed with NCL and would like to give them a try. 

 

 If the Cruise Next certificates you mentioned are available, I would be interested.   Thanks for offering!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by pr8hd

[psmarkle]

I did not do the actual math, thanks for that! Still a goal, just might not make it. The 30% off is a great deal for us, however. Makes the YC very affordable 😉 I usu take $1K onboard for the casino...maybe I can recycle it 30X for that "free" cruise, perhaps??

[mscdivina2016]

5 hours ago, psmarkle said:

I did not do the actual math, thanks for that! Still a goal, just might not make it. The 30% off is a great deal for us, however. Makes the YC very affordable 😉 I usu take $1K onboard for the casino...maybe I can recycle it 30X for that "free" cruise, perhaps??

We make sure we get the 1200 points by using just one card when playing slots.

 

[dexddd]

17 hours ago, pr8hd said:

 

@GA Dave

 

Condolences to you and your family.  Sorry for the loss of your wife and children's mother.  

 

We have our fist cruise with MSC in two weeks (Meraviglia) and very much looking forward to it.  We are cruising rookies with five sailings   Cruised with Carnival and RCCL and the US Navy (Lots of Sea days there.  😃)  Haven't sailed with NCL and would like to give them a try. 

 

 If the Cruise Next certificates you mentioned are available, I would be interested.   Thanks for offering!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try MSC first.  NCL is run by a money hungry guy who has no interest higher than his own.